Why North Hill?
North Hill has always been a place filled with hard-working people trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. However, recently North Hill residents have found it challenging to achieve the "American Dream" due to high housing costs and limited job opportunities. Though these obstacles do exist, we believe that North Hill is a neighborhood perfectly positioned for revitalization due to the following factors:
1. North Hill has a growing population.
North Hill is known as "Akron's International District" due to the large number of immigrants and refugees that have settled in our neighborhood. As a result, North Hill is one of the few Akron neighborhoods that has seen a population growth in recent years. Our new neighbors have opened up businesses and breathed life into a once stagnant community. This influx of new neighbors has created momentum towards neighborhood revitalization that is slowly transforming North Hill for the better.
|
2. North Hill has a lack of affordable housing.
While this population surge has transformed North Hill into a diverse and vibrant community, it has also led to a housing shortage. This reality has created opportunity for "slumlords" to charge exploitative rent to our neighbors while providing substandard housing. As a result, many families have chosen to leave North Hill in search of more affordable housing elsewhere. This constant turnover has made neighborhood renewal challenging. Legacies of Success works to offer better housing options to help families stay in North Hill and become partners in neighborhood revitalization for the next generation.
|
3. North Hill has large stock of vacant housing.
As a result of the 2008 financial crisis, North Hill's housing market was ravaged by foreclosures, leaving the neighborhood with numerous vacant homes. Currently, the city of Akron estimates that there are over 200 vacant properties in North Hill. These properties serve as visual reminders of the challenges North Hill faces - however, they are also the key to neighborhood revitalization. Legacies of Success believes that every vacant home offers the possibility of homeownership for a North Hill family. We desire to transform these symbols of urban blight into opportunity for neighborhood renewal. Just imagine how our neighborhood would change if we added an additional 200 homeowners in North Hill. We work to accomplish that goal one house at a time.
|